July's ups and downs

Will made gains at Reading Camp this summer

Brennan began his middle school journey at TFS camp

Hot, hot, hot summer baseball league

Laundry challenges

Worship Week Summer Musical - volunteer hours

Camp in the City- Pinecove Camp comes to Shandon

Hosting three great college guys who were up for Nerf gun battles after hours

Wondering if our kids will have hearts to serve when they are not boys but men

Middle School M-Fuge Camp and Missions

 

 

Tea with the Queen at Laura's Tea Room

Lemon curd? Macarons? Yes, please!

Getting together with the London trip friends

 

Sewing party to make sanitary supplies for the women of South Sudan

Nightlight International T-shirt design

Cookies for Jesus: the girls baked lots of cookies

for a Nightlight party benefiting women wishing to escape human trafficking.

Thankful for my friend Maria who serves, and my friend Brenda who has the gift of organizing people to come together for a good cause.

Tasting Ivonne's flan at Wednesday night Bible Study

First trip to the ER by ambulance for A's kidney stone

Gratitude for the support of my mother-in-law who waited with the kids, and my sister-in-law and mom who waited with me as A got the medical attention he needed.

I never again want to follow an ambulance to the hospital.

Trying to keep the fridge stocked with healthy foods. Trying not to be so easily irritated when they evaporate and someone complains that we are out of something.

 

It is well with my soul

 

 

I just had a birthday. In some regards it was a simple one. My kids don't drive, so I am the one to take them to CVS to pick out a chocolate for me (that I pay for and they pay me back later). My daughter and I both have a birthday in the same week, so the house is already decorated (by me). Her birthday celebrations often overlap mine as were born so close to the Fourth of July and so many families travel out of town. Scheduling teen-friend time for her becomes a priority at this stage in life.

Yet, my day still came, and I was so full of joy. Joyful to be remembered by family and friends. The gift of having coffee with a long-time friend- immeasurable. Gratitude for being able to go out to dinner with my family (my pick- not the kid-favorite Chick-fil-A). To choose gelato at the local health food store over cupcakes with sprinkles. To receive an (unwrapped) package in the mail that contained something that I wanted and that my family thought to order for me. Perfect.

Something that surprised me this year is how much little messages from Facebook meant to me. I am not a huge social media user, as the things people post sometimes feel like bragging to me. I usually use this quiet backwoods blog instead to let family and very close friends know what we are up to. But, on a birthday, the gift of being able to reconnect, however briefly, with the people who have shared life with me over the decades has been a treasure.

Each little birthday wish was like a stroll down memory lane. A childhood neighbor friend that I had sleepovers and swimming parties with. A dancer friend from middle school that shared lunchtime and performances. The first boy who ever wrote a "do you like me check yes or no" note and the one who drove a long way just to bring flowers on my birthday in my early twenties. My fellow missionary friends on trips to India and years in Cameroon. The family I nannied for in France. People we go to church with. Soul Sisters that pray with me along the way. The wives of friends I met through my husband. College students we had in our homes over the years. Dancers I have trained. Heart friends that we will travel with in the fall. Each greeting was an affirmation of the life God has given me, and my heart overflowed. It was a tiny glimpse of what our reunions in Heaven will be like.

 

How when you are in your forties, going out for grocery store gelato is a fully satisfying celebration

How every picture we have is screwed up by my (precious) goofball kids. Go ahead. Go back and look carefully at the above picture.

Redefining date night at the Big Mo drive-in with our kids and beloved family friends

Loving that my children have a rich heritage of friends to share life with too

The balloons I found tied to the microphone in the studio where I teach Pilates. Thinking they were for me, I took them home, parading through the parking lot like the birthday princess. Imagine my embarrassment when the next day there was a replacement set for someone else! Birthday twin, whoever you are, I am very sorry for taking off with your happiness! I pray that your day was as sweet and full of gratitude as mine.

 

Parting shots

Beautiful stained-glass windows.

L discovers that riding a double-decker bus is pretty much like riding a bus

On the steps of St. Paul's - no feeding birds here - birds of prey were released to discourage the pigeon population

 

 

Seeing the city from different perspectives... Cruising the river Thames

Looking up

Looking down

On London Bridge (this one is not falling down)

Dr. Who episode humor

Crumpets, yes. Baked beans for breakfast? No.

Liking macarons

What do you think this sign means?

This made me smile in central London

This reminded me of Ireland

Chinatown

EF tours did a nice job of having the kids try different kinds of cuisine

 

Bobbies

London Fog...an aerial view from the London Eye